Brian Shaev

Bacteria are highly complex and diverse organisms that have adapted to survive in ecological niches ranging from the most extreme to the most heterogeneous environments.

The aim of this thesis was to study the link between hearing loss, language skills, and social functioning in deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children. Sufficient language skills are an essential prerequisite to develop appropriate communication skills, in order to join in conversations with others.…

This project explores the decline of shifting cultivation in Northeast India. What is the impact on society of people’s deepening engagement with markets and the state?

To argue that people can control the relative contributions of goal-driven and stimulus-driven processes to decision-making and action selection.

Edith Schippers, Minister of Health, will be investing six million euros over the coming four years to boost research on new antibiotics. The programme will be set up by several different parties, including the Leiden Centre for Antimicrobial Research.

International education in the Netherlands is under pressure. There is pressure on the student housing market, and there is a greater desire among right-wing parties to keep our education and students within the borders and to make studies Dutch-language. In these social matters we look at what international…

This article, by Sara Perlstein, explores how perceived social acceptability shapes whether people talk about risks, showing that risk perceptions and conversations are socially negotiated rather than purely individual.

LiTechAe: Percussive stone tools related to stone masonry techniques seen through experimentation and use-wear analysis.

In this article, Annemiek de Looze and Eefje Cuppen, investigated empericallly if and how social conflict leads to institutional change.

We investigate bacteria and fungi to understand their malicious or beneficial impact on food crops and their pathogenic or antibiotic role in human health.

Living systems scale from unicellular microbes to complex multispecies communities that constantly change over time. Within the theme Development & Disease, we enhance our fundamental understanding of development and homeostasis of living cells and systems. We analyze the normal situation and how stresses…

“We are proud and happy to receive this grant. It will enable us to do truly innovative fundamental research with a direct link to practical applications.” Michiel Westenberg is looking forward to investigate the effects of age and social anxiety on eye-contact. Together with Esther van den Bos he has…

Students, first-time buyers, parents with stay-at-home children, migrants in need of a house; the problems in the housing market affect many layers within the society. The lack of housing is a growing problem. How does this affect our behaviour and the way we think about 'living' ? What are the consequences…

Identifying natural plant-associated bacteria that provide targeted inhibition of pathogens through the production of antimicrobial peptides.

Leiden was European City of Science in 2022: for a year Leiden was the capital of European science. Leiden University was a proud partner of Leiden2022.

In order to gain insight into the structure and function of the molecular complexes involved in chemotaxis, we use electron cryotomography (ECT). This technique allows us to directly study microbes in their native state at resolutions capable of visualizing individual proteins.

PhD defence

This thesis focuses on the social dimensions of crane and wetland conservation in rural landscapes in Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Vancomycin is a last-resort antibiotic for the treatment of many Gram-positive bacterial infections, while remaining inactive against Gram-negative strains.

The increasing resistance of pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics necessitates the discovery of new medicines.

The soil-dwelling, filamentous bacteria of the genus Streptomyces are renowned for their production of useful secondary metabolites including antibiotics. The work described in this thesis provides new insights on the role and regulation of antibiotic production and resistance in these bacteria.

Plants are colonized by an astounding number of microorganisms that can provide different life-support functions, including nutrient acquisition and protection against (a)biotic stresses like drought or pathogen attack.

In this thesis, I focused on studying the above- and belowground interactions of J. vulgaris from a plant-soil feedback (hereafter, PSF) perspective. I investigated the temporal variation of negative PSF and examined the effects of root-associated bacteria on plant performance and aboveground herbiv…

Antibiotic resistance, caused by widespread use of antibiotics, leads to bacterial infections that are difficult, if not impossible, to treat and is a major worldwide health concern.

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel, Co-promotor: D. Claessen

β-Lactamases are enzymes that can break down β-lactam substrates, such as antibiotics, preventing the use of these antibiotics for the treatment of various infectious diseases. However, some compounds, β-lactamase inhibitors, can block these enzymes allowing for possible treatments using a combination…

Promotor: Prof.dr. T. Schmidt

This project explored the role of material culture, in casu painted plaster and its technologies, in expressing dynamic social identities and in forging complex interwoven human relationships in the context of the Middle to Late Bronze Age of the Aegean and East Mediterranean.

From 1 January 2017, Professor of neurocognitive developmental psychology Eveline Crone has been appointed member of the Social Sciences Council of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).

An archaeological case-study of the Pointe des Châteaux, La Désirade and Les Îles de la Petite Terre micro-region, Guadeloupe, F.W.I.

This open access book brings together an eclectic cast of scholars in related disciplines to examine ageing in the Soviet Union, covering the practice of geriatrics, the science of gerontology, and the experience of growing old. Chapters in the book focus on concepts and themes that analyse Soviet ageing…

This article introduces the concept of Repertoires of Comparison (RoCs) to explain how certain comparisons become deeply embedded in social and political life.

On Friday 7 March 2025 Adam Knight successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

This COIn Grant 2025 awarded project allows Leiden University researchers and students to do research on the world’s largest corpus of digitized Ottoman language periodicals and books.

This dissertation aims to provide insight in ethnic prejudice in Chinese-Dutch children and the ethnic socialization context they are exposed to through three social-contextual factors, i.e., parents, children’s books, and the COVID pandemic.

Bacteria are everywhere. They are the most abundant organisms on earth and impact all aspects of our lives. They determine our health and shape our environment. Ariane Briegel, professor of Ultrastructural Biology, freezes bacteria super fast to gain a true-to-nature image of the internal and external…

Defending your PhD research in front of nearly 300 elementary school students: that was the challenge faced by PhD candidates Jo-Anne Verschoor and Marinka de Willigen during the VUURVLIEGEN competition organised by the Centrum JongerenCommunicatie Chemie (C3). After an exciting competition, the children…

...What does seem clear, though, is that there is a great deal of room for improvement in the process of out-of-home placement. The FSW's social and behavioural scientists give their views.

This project combines an extensive new open database on linguistic distributions, spatial modelling and areal linguistics in order to disentangle the roles of social and environmental factors on the emergence of linguistic diversity patterns of South America.

On 20 September 2019, the opening drinks for the Open Science Community Leiden will be held at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. Open science is the approach to science aimed at making scientific research accessible, reproducible, and freely available to people within and outside the academic…

The central aims of MicroClock project are to describe the B. subtilis circadian clock at molecular and functional levels, and discover the mechanisms of clock-regulated bidirectional signaling between B. subtilis and the model plant Arabidopsis

Although plant domestication has significantly altered crop genetics and phenotypes, its effects on the taxonomic and functional diversity of plant-associated microbiomes are not well understood.

How do processes of coalition-formation influence patterns of decision-making in the European Union?

This is a Special Issue of the peer-reviewed journal 'Social Sciences and Missions', which provides a forum for exploration of the social and political influence of Christian missions worldwide.